


Unconditionally Yours

by samcroqueen



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV), Peaky Blinders RPF
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Letters, Slow Burn, handwritten letters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:00:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26598715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samcroqueen/pseuds/samcroqueen
Summary: Madeline Lee finds herself back in the grim coal dusted grips of miserable Birmingham, and despite being home her heart longs to be elsewhere.Alfie Solomons finds himself falling further down the rabbit hole that is Madeline Lee.What desire and affection they had found in one another is put to the test by the distance that stretches between them.The only comfort they have are the letters that travel back and forth between them.(All content comes from a current and active ongoing Roleplay on facebook)
Relationships: Alfie Solomons/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 8





	1. How it starts

**Author's Note:**

> (All content comes from a current and active ongoing Roleplay on facebook)

**_(Madeline)_ **

𝑀𝓎 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒜𝓁𝒻𝒾𝑒

𝐼 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝓃 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓉𝒽.

𝐵𝒾𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒽𝒶𝓂 𝒾𝓈 𝒶𝓈 𝓊𝓈𝓊𝒶𝓁; 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓎, 𝓈𝓂𝑜𝓀𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔.

𝒫𝑒𝓇 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝒸𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓁 𝒶𝓁𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓊𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝓇𝓂'𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓃𝑔𝓉𝒽, 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒, 𝒾𝓃𝓃𝑜𝒸𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝓇𝑒.

𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒷𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒷𝓊𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈, 𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓌𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁, 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝑒𝒶𝒹, 𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝑜𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝓇𝒾𝓅𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉𝓇𝓎𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃. 𝒜𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓂𝑒𝓁𝓁; 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎.

𝐼 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒪𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓊𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝐼 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓉 𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒽𝒾𝓂.

𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒫𝓇𝒶𝓎𝑒𝓇𝓈

𝒜𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈

𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇

𝑀𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒

**_(Alfie)_ **

Alfie couldn't even count the number of times he's reread Madeline's note over and over again.

Her time in Camden Town had ended, unfortunately, and now she was back in Birmingham with Thomas bloody Shelby of all people. He's kept his hatred of the fact she had to return a secret, burying his disappointment and bitterness deep within.

Probably the only person to realize there was anything wrong was Ollie, and that's simply because the young man spent most of his time around Alfie.

He had to send a reply. Alfie couldn't stop himself even if he tried. And if Tommy or one of his brothers found it? Then, fuck them, he thought.

_____________________________

𝘔𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦,

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩, 𝘦𝘩? 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳.

𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦.

𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦.

𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴,

𝘈𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘦

He sealed the letter before handing it off to Ollie to be delivered later.

**_(Madeline)_ **

The letter arrives in the middle of breakfast.

Not the most opportune time with all the Shelby family in attendance to be opening a letter that by all regards could very well be used against the writer should it fall into the wrong hands.

"Who's it from ehy?" In this moment Madeline wished Arthur would just keep his bloody mouth shut.

"Just my sister, I'll read it later" The lie falls from her lips as easily as cutting butter. The letter in question finds its new home tucked safely into the pocket of her skirt, safe from prying eyes and sticky fingers.

Thankfully None questions her further.

It not until Lachlan has stumbled up the stairs to bed after far too many glasses of Scotch, That Madeline sinks into the soft folds of an armchair by the fire and finally retrieves the letter from the depths of her pockets.

The day had passed in an agonizingly slow manner as she waited for a safe moment to open the letter...his letter.

Alfie's penmanship is immaculate, her name scrawled in delicate Cursive across the front of the envelope.

'𝘔𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦'

So this is the game we will play, she muses to herself and she reads over his words, unable to keep the smile from her lips, glad she had waited till this moment to read his letter.

The little hole that had formed inside her upon leaving London was suddenly not so empty as she clutched the slip of paper to her chest. So he missed her, The thought of Big bad brooding Alfie Solomons admitting to missing her caused her to laugh aloud.

\--Some days later--

𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒜𝓁𝒻𝒾𝑒

𝑀𝓎 𝓈𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓅𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝒹𝒶𝓎'𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝒸𝒶𝓇𝒸𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒶 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓁𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝒾𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐼𝓉𝒶𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝒽𝑒𝓁𝒷𝓎𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝓀𝒾𝒸𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓅 𝒶 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓊𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝑒𝓃𝓋𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝓊𝓈 𝒶𝓁𝓁.

(She made sure to leave out that in as many days she'd almost been the victim of not one but two car bombings that she'd narrowly avoided, Walking away with a few cuts and Bruises.)

𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝒮𝒽𝑒𝓁𝒷𝓎 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓅 𝒷𝑒𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝑔𝓁𝒶𝒹𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝓊𝓉 𝑜𝒻𝒻 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓃𝒹, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒻𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓇𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂.

𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒪𝓁𝓁𝒾𝑒, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒶𝓁𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝑒𝓇𝒻𝓊𝓁 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝓅𝒶𝓃𝓎. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝒹𝑜 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓂𝒾𝓈𝓈 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓇𝒶𝒾𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝓅𝒶𝓃𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐻𝓊𝓃𝑔𝓇𝓎.

𝐼 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑔𝓇𝓊𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝒾𝓂𝓅𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝒻𝒻𝒾𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝒶 '𝒷𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓇𝓎'.

𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝒾𝓈𝑒 𝓂𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻,

𝐼̶ ̶𝓌̶𝑜̶𝓇̶𝓇̶𝓎̶ ̶𝓁̶𝒶̶𝓉̶𝑒̶ ̶𝒶̶𝓉̶ ̶𝓃̶𝒾̶𝑔̶𝒽̶𝓉̶

𝒥𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝑔𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒾𝓃𝓋𝑜𝓁𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝑔𝓊𝓃𝒻𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓊𝓁𝓉 𝒾𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓇𝓎, 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝒻𝒾𝓍 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝐵𝒾𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒽𝒶𝓂.

𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒

𝒜𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈

𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑀𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒

Folding the letter she enclosed the small pressed stem of Violets that her niece had helped her press the week before. The small flower bringing a small smile to her lips as she sealed the envelope.

She'd post it first thing the next morning.

**_(Alfie)_ **

In those long days of waiting, Alfie went back to busying himself and trying to keep up with any word in London involving the Italians. Still, almost every night without fail, when he finally had his chance to be alone at night, and maybe get more than a few hours of sleep, he'd lie there with his last thoughts drifting to Madeline before sleep took over.

He never realized how much he'd missed her company until she was gone; the smell of her perfume, the soft touch of her hair, her laughter-- all these little things. They suddenly became so much more important.

Christ, he had it BAD, and he can't even remember when exactly it all happened. It was almost embarrassing if he was honest with himself. He felt like a schoolboy with a crush, except this wasn't a silly game, and they're not children.

Ollie had left her letter on his desk without a word (they both knew /exactly/ who it was from), and Alfie picked up the envelope a bit too eagerly once Ollie left the room.

The first thing he noticed was the faint sweet smell when he opened it. His assumption was right when he saw the small pressed stem.

As he scanned her letter, Alfie couldn't help smile at her Tommy joke. But then it quickly turned into laughter—the kind he hasn't had in well over a month.

_______________________

𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦,

𝘐𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 (𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦), 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵'𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘖𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 (𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵). 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘺'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵:

𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘖𝘔𝘌 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘣𝘺'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘖𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘶𝘱.

𝘈𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯.

𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴,

𝘈𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘦

It was a bit late, so he sealed the letter and kept it aside until early the next morning he gave it to Ollie.


	2. Addicted to Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is slightly shorter as we took a break whilst writing it and have only just jumped back on board.

**_(Madeline )_ **

"You know you really should be resting, you were complaining of a headache not long before" The young nurse at the foot of the bed chastised her.

Pausing her writing Madeline directed her gaze to the redheaded girl, Genevieve, they'd worked together during the war and Genevieve had continued to work at the hospital even once the need for them had passed.

Madeline rolled her eyes at her friend before returning them to the sheet of paper in front of her "I promise I will finish writing this letter and then I will do exactly as I am told" she muttered as her pen scratched across the surface of the paper.

A whole month had passed since the arrival of Alfie's most recent letter, she'd been confined to the edges of the bed she currently resided in for the past three. Despite having narrowly avoided the last few car bombings (courtesy of the Italians) she had not been lucky enough the last time, not one week after posting her letter; two of her cousins and herself had been thrown from their car after the explosives in the engine had failed to detonate properly. Luckily for them however the blow had not been fatal. Madeline had spent the first two weeks in and out of consciousness while she recovered with four broken ribs, a gash that ran the length of her hairline and a particularly nasty wound to her leg, the current source of their worries.

𝑀𝓎 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓉 𝒜𝓁𝒻𝒾𝑒

𝐼 𝓇𝑒𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓈𝑜𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓇, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓀𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝐼 𝒻𝑜𝓊𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝑒𝓃𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀.

𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝑔𝓁𝒶𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻, 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝐵𝒾𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒽𝒶𝓂 𝓈𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈. 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝑒 𝒾𝒻 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒶𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊.

𝐼 𝒹𝑜 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒹𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑜𝒸𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝓇 𝒾𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓇𝓎 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓊𝓂𝓂𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒾𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝑒, 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓇 𝓃𝑜 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒷𝑒 𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝒾𝒹𝑒.

𝒯𝑜𝓂𝓂𝓎 𝑔𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝑒𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒹𝒶𝓎, 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓉𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒷𝑜𝒹𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝒻𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒷𝓁𝒶𝓂𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒹𝓇𝑜𝓌𝓃𝓈 𝒽𝒾𝓂, 𝐼 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝒶𝓂 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝓈𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝐼 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑒𝓃𝑔𝓉𝒽 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓈 𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒷𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑒𝒹.

𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝐿𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈, 𝓂𝒶𝓎𝒷𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒾𝓃𝒽𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓉𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻.

𝒫𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓃𝑒𝓌𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝐵𝒾𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔𝒽𝒶𝓂 𝒾𝓈 𝒶 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝓊𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓁𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝒾𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈.

𝒜𝓁𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈

𝒴𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑀𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒

𝓍

"If you wouldn't mind posting this for me " she spoke as she carefully folded the letter, tucking it safely inside the confines of its plain envelope save for the address and name on the front and the return address of the hospital on the back in black ink.

**_(Alfie)_ **

The days blur together and go by. Alfie distracts himself with his work, as per usual, spending more and more time in his office or the brewery than his own home.

Profit cometh, profit goeth. Everything is doing well, but still. . . he can't help feel on edge.

He still hasn't heard anything back from Madeline in quite some time, which normally wouldn't be all that concerning to him, except it's been longer than the norm. When he did finally receive her letter, though, he couldn't help but feel his anger and frustrations against Tommy begin to boil.

However, Madeline's been hurt, or she's sick. He can't exactly tell from her letter. Either way, she doesn't sound too happy being where she is now.

Later, when he finally settled in at home, he reread her letter again before writing his own:

𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦,

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘣𝘺'𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴-- 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴-- 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘖𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦.

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴' 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐'𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴.

𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰. 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵. 𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥.

𝘔𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.

𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴,

𝘈𝘭𝘧𝘪e

**_(Madeline)_ **

She'd been halfway through reading Alfie's latest letter when the doctors arrive on their morning rounds to inform her that it would be unlikely that she would be leaving the restrictions of the hospital any time in the near future, Her leg they told her was taking longer than they'd like to heal and there was the fair chance that once it was fully healed there was the likely possibility that she would walk with an impairment, that was however if the leg healed. It was not the news she had hoped for and instead only made her further resent the man for whom was the reason for her being here.

Alfie's letter was her only comfort, his words and appeals seemingly the only genuine articles she'd read since first arriving at the hospital. Neither of the Shelby brothers had bothered to make an appearance at her bedside despite the fact that it was because of their affiliation that she landed in the hospital in the first place, and Polly's unsettled temperament did nothing for her ailment.

Her leg develops and infection not two days later and a burning fever quickly sets in, even though the pain Madeline fights the doctors who suggest that amputation may be the only solution she has left if the infection does not clear.

She feels it cruel to write to him this way, almost half out of her mind with fever and pain, but a small part of her fears that just maybe she might not survive this time and oh how she's longed to see him. She's not well enough to write herself and so enlists the help of one of her kinder nurses to transcribe for her.

_Dearest Alfie_

_I am sorry for my letter to come to you in such a manner but I am afraid I am not well enough to write you myself, and so have asked one of my nurses to write for me.  
Though I long to see the world outside the walls of this hospital, I worry that perhaps I might never see outside these grim white walls._

_I have not been honest with you of my condition, and though I would not want you to worry as you already do enough of that already._

_But plainly I am not well, and I so long to have a friend by my side and I could think of none I would like better by my side than you._

_Please come see me._

_All my love_

_Your Madeline_


End file.
